5 Android apps that are already redesigned for Android 5.0 Lollipop

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

Android is about to complete its metamorphosis into an operating system with not just cohesive design, but stunning good looks. Android 5.0 Lollipop looks great, but that says nothing of the apps. It’s up to developers to get their apps updated using the new material design guidelines with bolder colors, layered UI elements, and floating action buttons. It’ll probably take a while for everyone to get on-board, but some developers have already done the work to create beautiful materialized apps. Here are five of the best.

Talon Plus

The original Talon Twitter client was designed with Android 4.4 KitKat in mind. For the material makeover, the developer decided to start from scratch. It’s a good thing too–the old app is out of Twitter user tokens and can’t be sold anymore. The new Talon Plus version is only for Android 5.0 and is an excellent example of material design.

The app makes use of bright colors, and includes theming options so you can choose the color you like best. Want a pink action bar? That can be arranged. The color you choose for the theme is used as the hero color for the app switcher interface as well. It also has translucent system bars when scrolling and a proper slide-out navigation menu.

When making a new post, you’ll use the floating action button at the bottom of the screen to bring up the interface, which comes with it’s own nifty animation. In the settings it’s all animations all the time. Every switch, menu, and button follows the guidelines and it’s just downright fun to play with. Talon Plus hits all the points of material design and it’s only $4.99.

Pushbullet

Pushbullet continues to be one of the most useful free utilities on Android. This app lets you push text, links, and files between your devices and computers. It’s always evolving, and now it has a complete material design makeover. The developers are careful to point out they followed the guidelines very closely to make sure they got material design right.

This is one of the few apps I’ve seen thus far that uses the correct icons and animations for filtering, which is accessible in the top right region of the app. On the other side is the navigation menu, again, in Lollipop style. The green action bar is carried over into the hero color for the app switcher, and all the switches in the settings are properly animated.

You can create a new push from within the app using the floating action button, but more useful is Pushbullet’s integration with the Android sharing menu.

Sliding Explorer

File managers aren’t exactly the most riveting apps in the world, but you really need to have them around on Android. Many of these apps are utilitarian to the point of being ugly, but not Sliding Explorer. The developer of this app has made great strides in design in advance of Lollipop’s release.

Sliding Explorer is not completely materialized, but I’m including it because it’s really the best we’ve got in this category. It has a nice light blue theme with configurable white or black backgrounds. The translucent system bars are also right.

What it’s missing are some of the animations for touch interaction and updated switches in the settings. Still, for a free app, it fits in well enough on Lollipop that you won’t grimace upon opening it. Sliding Explorer also supports root access, if that’s something you’re into.

Battery Widget Reborn

Despite the name, Battery Widget Reborn is more than a widget. This app tracks your battery performance over time and provides you with some handy charts and graphs in the app, as well as on the home screen. It’s already gotten a material design update, so it’s ready to go for 5.0.

Battery Widget Reborn has a slide-out navigation menu that leaves the action bar visible, unlike a lot of other apps. That means you can see the cool hamburger icon animation. The three lines morph into an arrow with a little spin. It’s super-cool. The action bar color is carried through to the status bar and the hero color for the app switcher card.

This app includes options for a persistent notification with setting toggles and battery information, but that seems less useful with Lollipop. The widgets and in-app stats are probably the most useful part. The beta version of Battery Widget Reborn is free and the paid edition is $1.99.

Today Calendar

Today Calendar started as a tweaked version of the stock AOSP Android calendar app, but it has evolved far beyond those humble beginnings. In advance of Android Lollipop, Today Calendar has been completely redesigned to display the very best of material design.

It has all the basic stuff like the colored status bar, navigation slide-out, and plenty of animations. So cross those off your list. What’s particularly cool is the integration of the floating action button, which feels more like part of the design than an afterthought as in some apps. It moves around to different places depending on the view you have chosen, and makes the most important functions of each screen more accessible. Speaking of views, the split month/agenda view in Today is excellent.

When adding an event, Today really shows off the well-chosen color palette. It’s bright without being garish. You even get special custom images for different event types based on what you name it (meetings, vacations, holidays, and so on). Today Calendar is the only third-party calendar app that’s truly ready for Android 5.0, and it can be yours for $5.99.